Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever

Editors’ Notes The features list for Fab’s Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever sounds like it could have been the lineup for NYC’s most beloved annual hip-hop event, Hot 97’s Summer Jam. The first 11 tracks alone feature Meek Mill, Lil Durk, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Tory Lanez, Jacquees, Davido, Jeremih, Ty Dolla $ign, PnB Rock, Gucci Mane, and 2 Chainz. And though the project’s release date missed the concert (and even the entire season) by some months, it’s clear that summer was on the MC’s mind throughout the tape’s construction. He references it a number of times in verse and as a unifying thread—summer is bested only by a multitude of nostalgia-inducing production touchstones. (“B.O.M.B.S.,” for example, finds Fab rapping over a sample of The Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius”—aka the intro music for the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls.) “My Mind” plays like a continuation of Meek Mill's likewise Hitmaka-produced “Dangerous,” while “Gone for the Summer” and “Insecure” feature unique interpolations of Nas’ “Take It in Blood” and The-Dream’s “I Luv Your Girl,” respectively. These vibes clearly make the most sense in the context of fending off sunrays from atop a Ferris wheel, but the key to Fab’s longevity is that he makes songs that last beyond any single season.